The Haj Pilgrimage

Dated: 16/11/2010
The Haj Pilgrimage
Sadia Dehlvi


Each year, over four million people from different countries travel to Makkah to perform Haj. Pilgrims enter a realm that recognises the common human bond; free of tribalism, colour prejudices, provincialism, social hierarchy, and other divisions that lead to antagonism. Haj is an invitation from God to liberate the soul by submission to Him alone.

Haj literally means ‘to set out for a higher destination’. The Quran warns of the Day of Judgment where each soul will have to account for its deeds. Haj is a spiritual awakening where pilgrims renew their covenant with Allah.

The two unstitched pieces of white cloth that men wear during the Haj, strips them of clothes that could reveal their worldly status. This ihram resembles the shroud that Muslims are wrapped in before being lowered into their graves, a reminder of death and the afterlife.

Muslims believe that God instructed Adam to build the Kaaba, directly beneath His throne in the Heavens. Adam became the first to perform circumambulations around the House of God. Then called ‘Bait al Mamur’, the Kaaba remained in Makkah till it was raised to the celestial world during Noah’s flood. Then, God called upon Abraham to rebuild the Kaaba and establish the Haj rites. Later, when Makkah fell to paganism, Prophet Muhammad re-established Haj rites after cleansing the Kaaba of idols. A simple cubelike structure, the Kaaba symbolises that the finite cannot contain the infinite and that our knowledge of God is our inability to comprehend or conceptualise the Divine.

A Haj ritual involves the pilgrim running seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah, following in the footsteps of Hajar, Abraham’s wife and mother of Ishmael, his firstborn son. Abraham was commanded by God to leave mother and son in the barren valley near the Kaaba. When provisions ran out, Hajar became desperate for water to quench the infant’s thirst. Invoking God’s mercy, Hajar ran between the two hills. On her seventh round, water sprang from the ground where the baby kicked. This water source is the well of Zam Zam.

The most significant Haj rite is on the ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah, the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, when pilgrims travel from Makkah to the grounds of Mount Arafat. This gathering symbolises the Judgment Day in the Hereafter, where all of humanity will be resurrected on one ground. On the nearby hill called Jabal e Rahmah, Mount of Mercy, the Messenger of Islam had delivered his farewell sermon.
After being sent to earth, Adam repented for hundreds of years and on this mount his prayers of forgiveness were finally accepted. Arafat means ‘to recognise’; it is here that Adam and Eve recognised each other and became united. Pilgrims spend the afternoon standing in earnest supplication and devotion, seeking forgiveness by invoking God's abundant Mercy.

Traditionally, Haj is looked upon as a kind of death, because the Quran repeatedly describes death as a meeting with God. The Kaaba is the House of God; so Haj becomes a kind of death, and the return similar to being born again. Sincere pilgrims are absolved of sins on this day of forgiveness and given a second chance to stay on the righteous path.